Application of High Pressure and Near-Critical Fluids, NCF's – a Tool for Novel Processes in Roche

Abstract

The development of new processes by means of near-critical fluids, NCF's, has gained increasing importance in the last few years. These processes include physical separation processes for especially thermolabile substances as well as chemical reactions in and with NCF's.
In this contribution, a short phenomenological description of the physical properties of near-critical fluids is given and their influence on the other compounds is discussed. Some general considerations with respect to high-pressure applications of NCF' s along with a rough overwiew of Roche activities in this field are described.